Texas was the first soap I watched that was ever canceled. And it's finale was so amazing, it's become the standard against which I judge all over soap final episodes. Show was at its creative height right when it was canceled and the finale wrapped up things so nicely.

Even more amazing when you consider they only had about a few weeks from the time the cancelation was announced to wrap up everything. I believe the canellation was announced in mid November 1982 and the final show aired on Dec. 31, 1982. Plus head writer Pam Long was out on maternity leave when it was announcced.

James, I feel the same way about TEXAS. I mentioned this on one of our recent podcasts. The show had hit its stride and I really wish they had given it more time. But so many people then moved to GL I wonder what would have happened with GL had TEXAS stayed on the air.

Why'd the "Edge Of Night" finale clip get bumped in favor of "A World Apart"? :-(

I loathe the fact that ATWT hired David Kreizman. Surprised? No. Disappointed, yes. A perfect opportunity to find strong talent to shore up ATWT and they pull the weakest link from GL? Dumb. Heck, ATWT would be better off with Pam Long than with David Kreizman. Blah.

What a wonderful collection of classic clips. It's striking to see that Pamela Long was involved with three finales. Texas was my all-time favorite as the show had gelled in so many ways by the time of its last episode. Long was featured recently in an audio interview on another site and it is a must-listen feature for fans of all the soaps she worked on. She has retained a healthy humble nature of all her work which is refreshing these days.

The sound on the Another World clip was removed due to copyright issues on the Bette Midler song which was played. Procter & Gamble kindly reposted the final scene with Victoria Wyndham and Charles Keating earlier this year when the company launched the Another World Today initiative. The final clip from the original Another World can be found in episode 1 of Another World Today at:

Pam Long is a goddess. She was the only reason I ever watched Texas. Okay. Harley Kozak was the other reason. But Pam should have been brought back to run GL two years ago. I just know that she would have been able to pull the show up to such a level of excellence in story and characters that any talk of cancellation would have been about GH instead.

I've watched the final episode of every soap since Dark Shadows with the exception of For Richer For Poorer and How To Survive A Marriage. I can honestly say that the greatest ending of all was The Edge Of Night with Capitol a close second and Search For Tomorrow virtually tied with them both.

My vote for the worst-ever finale, and I know you all will agree, was Santa Barbara. I felt like as a viewer my goodwill and loyalty to the show was being stomped on.